


Talks Over Drinks

by DT_Marley



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Sburb Session, Domestic Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-17
Updated: 2019-03-17
Packaged: 2019-11-23 06:22:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18148235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DT_Marley/pseuds/DT_Marley
Summary: Dad likes to relax in his office. He doesn't get too very much with all the things he has to do, today Bro joins him.





	Talks Over Drinks

**Author's Note:**

> Non sburb AU where Bro and Dave live with the Egberts. Dad is trying to help Bro be a better guardian, but of course that's not all that's going on.

Dad sat in his office, hat off, tie loose, top button undone, and a glass of Bourbon in his hand. One of the few times he didn’t go to bed early so he could enjoy some time to himself. Friday nights were the usual evening that he was able to shut the rest of the world out of his office and just sit in silence. Well, not silence, he had some soft jazz playing in the background as he flipped through an old photo album. It was filled with pictures of John and him, some pictures of his younger self with his mother, and unfortunately his grandmother. He tried to skip over those ones.

He took a slow sip of his drink. Sometimes he didn’t believe how fast time went by. It felt like just yesterday he’d met John… He’d lost his mother… and everything changed. Not that he hated it, he wouldn’t dare change a thing, but some days he wondered if he made the right choice all those years ago.

“I knew you were hiding the good shit in here.”

The voice made Dad sit up in surprise. Though, he wasn’t shocked, of all the people he would expect to not respect privacy or personal space it would be Bro. “Where I keep my own things isn’t your business.” He turned and looked at the other, “It IS my office. Besides, the door was locked how did you…. Never mind.” He’d just get a new lock the next day.

“Look I’m just saying your little game of ‘If I can find your drinks I dump it down the drain’ isn’t fair if I can’t find yours cuz it’s in a locked room.” Bro crossed his arms and raised a brow, taking in the relaxed appearance of the other. “Thought I heard some shitty old person music up here every once in a while. What you do in here anyways?” He walked over to one of the other chairs and sat down.

Dad’s mouth twitched. The last thing he wanted was to share his relaxing time with this… well… he sighed. He was too tired to have that fight today. Instead he grabbed an extra glass and poured a drink for Bro. “Get away from things. Think, read, that sort of thing.” He held the glass out for Bro to take, “Don’t drink it too fast, it’s much stronger than the cheap swill you hide around the house.”

Now Bro was interested. He took the glass and sniffed it, then took a sip even his stoic face twisting as the burning alcoholic sting hit his tongue and slid down his throat. “F*ck. you enjoy that shit?”

“Most expensive shit you’ll ever have.” But he couldn’t hold back a small smile at the reaction, “I told you not to do that.”

“Yeah you tell me not to do a lot of f*cking things, doesn’t mean I listen.”

“Oh I’m aware.” All too aware unfortunately. He moved to close the photo album.

“What’s that?” Bro stood and walked to the desk, looking over Dad’s shoulder, “That YOU?” He reached around Dad and stopped him from closing the album, flipping it back to a page with a photo of a 20 something year old Dad holding a small baby wrapped in blue and an older woman smiling next to him. 

“......yes.” But he responded almost sadly, looking at the photo brought back so many memories.

“Shit, hot stuff, didn’t know you were into the older ladies.” He also hadn’t realized that John’s mother had been so… old?

“What? No! Broderick, that’s my mother.” He turned to look back at the other, not realizing how close he was and bumping into his arm that was now almost resting on his shoulder.

“Oh. well I guess that makes more sense.” He shrugged and now he did actually lean across Dad’s shoulder, sort of draping himself on top. “Where is the wifey anyways? Never see any pictures or anything, she dead? Divorce?”

Dad refused to let the weight of the other make him sink into the chair, but the “wife” comment made him glance back again, “Oh… nonexistent I guess would be the best way to put it. I haven’t ever married before.”

“So you knocked up some dumb bitch, took the kid, and left her?” Bro threw back the rest of the drink, the only way he figured he could finish it without the sting, though it did leave a pleasant warmth inside him.

“Of course NOT!!” Now he did sit up so Bro had to stop leaning on him. “I would never… no! That’s not an assumption you make about anyone and-” He stopped as Bro reached forward and pressed a finger to his lips.

“Calm down, foxy. No need to raise your blood pressure. It was a joke.” But he was grinning now, way too happy about this.

Of course, of course everything had to go this way. You couldn’t have a normal conversation with this man and not have him crawling all over you within the first five minutes. Or maybe that was just him… Dad removed Bro’s finger from his mouth and took another sip of his own drink. “Rude to even joke about. No… John is… he’s… well, not technically mine.” He saw Bro raise an eyebrow, “I found him.”

Now it was Bro’s turn to sit down again though he did pull the chair closer. “Look, it’s late, and we’re drinking. You know way too much about my life already, it’s your turn to spill, hot stuff.” He held out his now empty glass again. “Fill ‘er up.”

Dad sighed, not exactly how he’d wanted his evening to go, but the company was always nice. He didn’t have many friends and John didn’t really care. Why not. He poured out a glass for Bro, giving it a little more than he should have. “Alright, fine, we can talk. But I expect you’ll just get bored. I’ve hardly lived the….colorful lifestyle you’re familiar with.” He couldn’t figure he’d done anything worth talking about.

“You’re raising a kid that you found. There’s a story there somewhere.” He saw the drink and smirked. Well, he could be nice. That was new.

“Not really…” Dad poured more for himself as well, he’d need it. “No, I imagine it sounds a bit odd. I didn’t so much as find him as much as he just… came into my life. I was leaving my old job at my mother’s store when there was a box in an alleyway. Heard crying… but when I saw an infant maybe a few weeks old… I just knew I had to take him in.” He shrugged. “My mother agreed… but she passed on not long after.”

Bro sipped his drink, this time making an effort not to react, “I don’t get it. You don’t owe that kid shit.”

“I suppose not, no.” Dad glanced back at the album, “But if we’re being honest, finding John was the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I was...a bit lost. He gave me purpose.”

“...Did your mom like it? A kid coming out of nowhere and all?”

“She loved him. So much. I just wish she was still here to meet him now.” His face darkened, “ my Nanna on the other hand… not as much. The old bitch is still alive purely out of spite, I swear.”

Bro leaned back and put his feet up on Dad’s leg, getting really comfy in the chair. “Oh? Family issues in paradise? Unheard of.”

“Hardly.” Dad looked down at the feet but didn’t say anything, not right now. “She’s…. Well, she’s always sort of disliked most people. She doesn’t see us ever, she refuses to see John as much as I refuse to let her see John. She’s hurt enough people, no reason for her to hurt anyone else.” He flipped back a page, careful to keep it out of Bro’s view, to a photo of him as a child, His mother standing behind him, and his Nanna behind her, a hand on each of their shoulders. He remembered that day, how she’d gripped them both, digging in with her ridiculously long fingernails, so hard that he’d had a bruise afterward. 

There was a shift in the mood now, Bro could tell this was something he'd best not push too far. He was shockingly good at reading people, one of his secret talents. So he took another gulp of his drink and let out a small cough, “ok, so you clearly didn’t have any scandalous sexual encounters to make the little nerd. But someone who’s got the ‘nice guy’ act going on as hard as you do has to have some sort of past.”

At this, dad finished his drink. He’d rather discuss other things than his nanna anyways. “I don’t date much.”

Now Bro almost spat out his drink, “no SHIT. and here I thought you were some sort of casanova.” he rolled his eyes and scooted farther down in the chair so he could get even more comfortable. “But you didn’t say not at all.”

“What are you, a thirteen year old girl at a sleepover?” Dad sighed and put down his empty glass, picking up the bottle and filling it again, letting the soft jazz fill the silence between them for a few moments. “I told you, I haven’t lived as colorful a life as you have. I’ve dated… but shockingly most people don’t want to get very serious with a man who already has a teenage son.”

“I get plenty of offers.”

“I’m sure you do. You have a lot more of a… wild sort of… swagger thing… going on. I’d expect you’d have lots of people lining up to ‘have’ you.” Now he took a very long sip of his drink. He hadn’t meant to let that slip out.

There was a small laugh from the chair as Bro sat up, taking his feet off Dad’s leg and leaning forward, “Oh come on. You can’t say no one is into what you got! I’m sure you have PTA mom’s single, married, and otherwise all ready to swing it with you.” The alcohol was starting to hit and his confidence was boosting, “You should own what you’re selling. Not everyone wants someone wild.”

Dad didn’t pull back now, he just leaned against his desk. “Look, it’s not that I’m not confident in who I am or what I have to offer. But you hit a point in your life when it’s not all about wild nights and… well… i suppose what people would call ‘fever’.” he sighed, “most things these days are about John, making sure he has a future, that he can become whatever he wants to be. It doesn’t leave much time for anything else.” He smiled slightly and laughed, “not much more time than this, really.”

“That’s sad. You should do more for yourself.” Bro moved in closer, closing the gap between them significantly, “more than one room, some expensive booze, and staying up late on friday nights. It’s sad really. You know, you give me shit all the time about how I make all the bad decisions, but you? You’re miserable, sad, and lonely. Hell, maybe I ain’t ‘guardian of the year’ but at least I’m not so f*cking miserable I have to make other people feel like shit so I can feel better!” He reached forward and grabbed Dad’s collar, pulling him forward roughly.

Dad’s breath caught slightly and he swallowed, suddenly uncomfortable in the space, “please let go of my shirt.” His voice was quiet now. 

“No comebacks? Not like you.”

“I said, let go.” He tried to move backwards now, but also was acutely aware of everything. He didn’t like this. He felt hijacked, trapped, stuck, and unsafe. “I never asked for you to like what I do or approve of it.” He reached up to grab bro’s hands and tried to remove them himself.

“But you do care don’t you.” Instead of letting go he somehow managed to twist his hands around, grab dad’s wrists and pull him forward and onto his lap. “I don’t think you’re as boring as you make yourself out to be.”

Things went from unsafe to straight up shocking. This wasn’t how he’d seen this giong and certainly nothing he’d expected. “No, I am. I know what I like, it’s safe and comfortable and steady. I don’t like flings or surprises.” He wanted to stand up now but Bro had wrapped his arms around him. “If you’re looking for something here… I’m afraid you won’t find anything you want. I’m not like you. I’m not….”

“Not what?” f*ck how did this man smell so nice? 

“I haven’t….” He sighed and looked right at the shades, “I don’t have a wife, I’m not married, I’ve never been in a long standing relationship, I found my son in a box. Maybe that looks sad on the outside, but it’s what i chose to be. I’m not miserable as you would like to believe.”

“You sound like you’re talking in circles around something here. Spill it, hot stuff.” But even so Bro loosened his grip slightly.

“I just… while you may feel that you can have sex with whomever you please whenever you please… I just don’t see things that way. look. “ He stood up and grabbed his drink, finishing it quickly. “Maybe you are charming to a degree and maybe there is something that is attractive. But any sort of...no. that’s not the right way to put it.” He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose the way he usually did when he was stressed, “I’m not like you because I don’t want to put time and effort into a relationship that I don’t think will last. I’m a mate for life sort of person, Broderick. Because unless things are serious? Unless there’s a chance of it being something that can be relied on? I want companionship, not one night.”

There was a long silence after that. Bro finished his drink, He’d been shut down before, not often but it wasn’t unheard of. He looked at the room, the photos around, everything that Dad had cultivated to be in his private space: old, classic, reliable, lasting. He felt out of place.

“I’m sorry, that didn’t come out right…” Dad leaned against the desk, “I don’t mean to insult you, really. I’m sure you find fulfillment in what you do. It’s just not that way for me.” He felt like he was making it worse and he suddenly wished they’d talked about his Nanna instead of personal things.

“Nah. ain’t the first time.” Bro stood quickly, the feeling of not belonging in the room was starting to weigh on him. Not just the room, he didn’t belong in this man’s life. It was a reminder that he shouldn’t be there, that he was allowed in, that it was a favor, and he didn’t like that. “Look, Egbert... “

The change in how he was addressed immediately set off the “you said the wrong thing you idiot” sensors. “No, you don’t have to explain or pretend or… anything like that.” He sighed, “thank you for the company. I don’t often get to talk to people, I enjoyed that.” He smiled at Bro then paused, “hold on.”

Bro raised an eyebrow but waited as he watched Dad go around the desk, “yeah… talking. Can’t say it’s a strong suit, but not a weakness either.”

“No, i mean it.” Dad stood back up with an old looking bottle and brought it back over, handing it to Bro, “Here, see if you can’t get used to it. Next time you’ll enjoy it more.” He smiled and shoved his hands into his pockets.

“Next time?”

“Of course. We live in the same house, unless you were completely miserable I’d imagine you can have drinks with me again.” He paused then narrowed his eyes at Bro, “Don’t leave it anywhere i’ll find it. I would hate to have to pour $700 down the drain because you’re bad at hiding things.”

Bro almost dropped the damn bottle, “Shit, Egbert… I…” That was unexpected to say the least.

“No, I want you to have it, really. As a ‘thank you’” He started picking up the desk, putting the dirty glasses to the side and placing the photo album back on his bookshelf, “There are times when I am lonely. Maybe you’re right about some things. Raising John by myself is hard. I don’t have friends really, the PTA moms are still a bit angry about the bake sale fiasco. And I haven't had any family other than John since my mother passed. Having you and Dave move in has changed things, but it’s brought more life into the house. While I wish the circumstances were different, I can’t help but be happy to not be so lonely anymore.”

That was unexpected. “Yeah… sure.. Anytime.” It wasn’t often Bro was caught so off guard. He didn’t know what else to do except move towards the door, “Yeah, same… uh. You’re welcome...Eg…” He smirked, “hot stuff.”

And there it was again. Dad wasn’t sure if that would ever end. But it had its own charm in annoyance. “I’m heading to bed,” He turned off the light and let Bro out of the office before stepping out himself. “Goodnight, Broderick, and try not to drink that all at once.”

“Sure, whatever you say.” Bro headed  towards the door that went downstairs to his basement apartment. “Goodnight.”

Dad went up to the second floor, his room was decorated similarly to the office but with less books. He changed quickly into pajamas and crawled into bed. He’d drunk too much but his head wasn’t buzzing from alcohol, and that made him a bit uneasy. He couldn’t trust Bro, that was almost a given, but he’d given him a chance after knowing him for all of 10 minutes. He knew what this man had done and still thought he could change. It was unlike him to be so careless. And he couldn’t help but think it might be because of that damn perfect smirk and slow southern voice.


End file.
